Classical period

The Classical period was a period of Greek history which lasted from 480 BC to 323 BC, succeeding the Archaic period and preceding the Hellenistic period. The Classical period set in during the Greco-Persian Wars, and it included the Greek defeat of the Persian invasions, the start of the Golden Age of Athens (including the construction of the Parthenon and several other works of art), the formation of the Athenian and Spartan empires (resulting in the Peloponnesian War), the invention of philosophy in Athens (pioneered by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), the invention of theatre, plays, amphitheatres, competitive sports, history, and medicine, the rise of Doric (thick and simple columns), Ionic (volute/spiral shapes), and Corinthian (amcanthus leaves on arches) columns, the creation of modern Western civilization, the search for perfection and the ideal in all things, the rise of kouros (male) and kore (female) statues, and the construction of bronze statues (80% copper, 20% tin). The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the fragmenting of his Greek-influenced Macedonian empire led to the start of the Hellenic period.